An update server for Squirrel (Squirrel.Mac / Squirrel.Windows) write in Node.js, specifically for Electron.
To connect your Electron application to squirrel-server, simple set your feed url path to /update/:platform/:arch/:currentVersion.
The same feed url will work for both Windows and Mac. At the moment, Linux is not supported in Electron.
const { autoUpdater } = require('electron');
const { version } = require('./package.json');
const feedUrl = `http://example.com/update/${process.platform}/${process.arch}/${version}`;
autoUpdater.setFeedURL(feedUrl);When you set up your squirrel-server, the only required Environment Variable is GITHUB_REPO. All others are optional, but certain features may not work unless they are enabled.
# `Username/Repository`
GITHUB_REPO="Tiliq/squirrel-server"Create a GitHub Token for your account with the repo scope selected and export an Environment Variable called GITHUB_TOKEN with the value.
GITHUB_TOKEN="Sup3rS3cr3tT0k3n"Create a webhook on your repository that links to the /webhook path of your server. Every time you publish a new release, GitHub will ping the URL, causing the server to refresh it's data.
You may optionally specify how many seconds to wait after a ping before the server fetches data using WEBHOOK_FETCH_TIMEOUT. This is not recommended, as it's best to upload all artifacts before publishing a release.
# Wait 5 Seconds after publishing a new release
WEBHOOK_FETCH_TIMEOUT=5
# Fetch new information immediately
WEBHOOK_FETCH_TIMEOUT=0Requires DARWIN_ZIP_FILE Environment Variable.
DARWIN_ZIP_FILE="App-darwin-x64.zip"If an update is available (the latest published release version is greater than :currentVersion), then this endpoint will return an object with information on the release. Otherwise, an HTTP status code 204 (No Content) will be returned.
Example Response:
{
"url": "http://example.com/download/v1.1.0/App-darwin-x64.zip",
"link": "https://github.com/SquirrelServer/example/releases/tag/v1.1.0",
"name": "Example App",
"notes": "Release Notes",
"pub_date": "2016-03-25T13:50:42Z"
}Requires WIN32_RELEASES_FILE and WIN32_NUPKG_FILE Environment Variables.
# `{{arch}}` and `{{filename}}` will automatically get
# replaced based on the value in the Sub-Endpoint URL.
WIN32_RELEASES_FILE="{{arch}}-RELEASES"
WIN32_NUPKG_FILE="{{arch}}-{{filename}}"If the Endpoint URL is accessed directly, a 404 will occur.
Electron's auto-updater (Squirrel.Windows) gets the Endpoint URL and appends /RELEASES to it which contains a list of NuPKG files. If an update is not available, all Sub-Endpoint URLs will return an HTTP status code 204 (No Content).
Apart from this being an auto-update server, you may also request specific files for all of your platforms, architectures, and versions.
wget http://example.com/download/latest/App-linux-x64.zipRequires LINUX_DIRECT_FILE, DARWIN_DIRECT_FILE, and/or WIN32_DIRECT_FILE in order to correctly retrieve file.
Redirects to /download/:version/:platform/:arch, specifying :version using the latest published tag.
wget http://example.com/download/latest/darwin/x64Requires LINUX_DIRECT_FILE, DARWIN_DIRECT_FILE, and/or WIN32_DIRECT_FILE in order to correctly retrieve file.
# `{{arch}}` and `{{version}}` will automatically
# get replaced based on the value in the Endpoint URL.
LINUX_DIRECT_FILE="App-linux-{{arch}}-{{version}}.zip"
DARWIN_DIRECT_FILE="App-darwin-x64.dmg"
WIN32_DIRECT_FILE="{{arch}}-AppSetup.exe"Redirects to /download/:version/:filename, specifying :filename using the environment variables to specify the filename.
wget http://example.com/download/v1.0.0/darwin/x64Redirects to /download/:version/:filename, specifying :version using the latest published tag.
wget http://example.com/download/latest/AppSetup.exeDownloads the specified filename and the specified version (tag name).
wget http://example.com/download/v1.0.0/AppSetup.exeOptional Query Parameters:
platform-darwin,win32,linuxarch-ia32,x64
Attempts to resolve the platform, architecture, and download url best suited for the current user based on the User-Agent.
Platform (platform) and/or architecture (arch) may be passed through instead of attempting to "guess".
Example Responses:
// wget http://example.com/api/resolve
{
"platform": "darwin",
"arch": "x64",
"url": "http://example.com/download/latest/darwin/x64"
}
// wget http://example.com/api/resolve?platform=win32
{
"platform": "win32",
"arch": "x64",
"url": "http://example.com/download/latest/win32/x64"
}
// wget http://example.com/api/resolve?platform=linux&arch=ia32
{
"platform": "linux",
"arch": "ia32",
"url": "http://example.com/download/latest/linux/ia32"
}Returns a JSON array of release tag names
Example Response:
{
"versions": ["v1.0.0", "v1.1.0", "v1.1.1"]
}Redirects to /api/version/:version, specifying :version using the latest published tag.
Returns a JSON object with information on the current release and asset information for the release.
Example Response:
{
"version": "v1.0.0",
"link": "http://github.com/Username/Repo/release/v1.0.0",
"name": "First Stable Release",
"notes": "Wooo!",
"pub_date": "2016-03-25T13:50:42Z",
"files": [
{
"name": "AppSetup.zip",
"url": "http://example.com/download/v1.0.0/AppSetup.zip",
"label": "AppSetup.zip",
"content_type": "application/zip",
"size": 28566258,
"download_count": 4
},
{
"name": "App-darwin.zip",
"url": "http://example.com/download/v1.0.0/App-darwin.zip",
"label": "App-darwin.zip",
"content_type": "application/zip",
"size": 39523293,
"download_count": 22
}
]
}The Environment Variables pertaining to the Auto-Updater and Direct Download endpoints are capable of mustache-style replacement tags.
| Environment Variable | Description | Replacement Tags | Used By |
|---|---|---|---|
LINUX_DIRECT_FILE |
The filename for Linux file across releases (usually a Zip) | arch, version |
/download/latest/linux/:arch/download/:version/linux/:arch |
DARWIN_DIRECT_FILE |
The filename for Mac file across releases (usually a DMG or Zip) | version |
/download/latest/darwin/x64/download/:version/darwin/x64 |
DARWIN_ZIP_FILE |
The filename for Mac Zip files across releases | /update/darwin/x64/:currentVersion |
|
WIN32_RELEASES_FILE |
The filename for the Windows RELEASES file across releases | arch |
/update/win32/:arch/:currentVersion/RELEASES |
WIN32_NUPKG_FILE |
The filename for Windows NuPKG files across releases | arch, filename |
/update/win32/:arch/:currentVersion/:filename |
WIN32_DIRECT_FILE |
The filename for Windows file across releases (usually an EXE, MSI, or Zip) | arch, version |
/download/latest/win32/:arch/download/:version/win32/:arch |
Set your environment variable to include a custom {{ext}} replacement tag, then when you request the file using the appropriate /download/:version/:platform/:arch endpoint, specify ext as a query parameter.
LINUX_DIRECT_FILE="app-linux.{{ext}}" WIN32_DIRECT_FILE="Setup.{{ext}}" npm startwget http://example.com/download/latest/linux/x64?ext=rpm
wget http://example.com/download/v1.0.0/win32/ia32?ext=msiSet your WIN32_RELEASES_FILE environment variable to include the {{arch}} replacement tag and rename your RELEASES files accordingly.
# Have x64-RELEASES and ia32-RELEASES uploaded
WIN32_RELEASES_FILE="{{arch}}-RELEASES" npm startwget http://example.com/update/win32/x64/v1.0.0/RELEASES
wget http://example.com/update/win32/ia32/v1.0.0/RELEASESThe filename includes the version number which is standard. How can I configure the server to find it properly?
Set your Environment Variable to include the {{version}} replacement tag.
LINUX_DIRECT_FILE="app-{{version}}-linux-{{arch}}.zip"wget http://example.com/download/latest/linux/ia32Valid SemVer version is required to properly match and compare versions.
The smallest amount should be fine in most cases. squirrel-server does not download files, stream files, or store files. This saves the machine from having to worry about disk space and memory. squirrel-server works by finding where GitHub stores your file (on S3) and merely redirects all downloads to that location, using one-time use tokens if necessary (if using a private repo).